


Sandalwood, vainilla and carnations

by lovelacegsl



Category: Little Women (2019)
Genre: Awkwardness, Christmas Dinner, Friendship, Just Friendship, Other, and his grandfather too, just laurie interacting with the Marches, not really amyxlaurie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:29:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27363535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelacegsl/pseuds/lovelacegsl
Summary: When Meg invited him to Christmas dinner he had been dubious but he was glad he did, he came out of it with the discovery of his family
Relationships: Theodore Laurence & Amy March, Theodore Laurence & Elizabeth March, Theodore Laurence & Margaret March
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	Sandalwood, vainilla and carnations

“Is it here? Are you sure?” Laurie's grandfather asked beside him, it was the first time Laurie had been able to spend time with him, or the first time he had agreed to spend time with him since Laurie finished undergraduate college. He had been pressuring him to do a major or do something else, seek higher education 

Laurie was 23 and had spent his time doing internships and working in part time jobs and having fun in New York, trying to forget his broken heart in different women's bodies and alcohol 

“Yes, it's here I wrote the adress twice,” Laurie answered exasperated wanting to smash his own head with the wine bottle in his hands 

They were standing in front of the red door of Meg's new house in Concord for Christmas dinner, she had cried to him over the phone pleading and begging him ‘Laurie you have to come please, John's horrible family is coming and I need a distraction from myself, they are so cruel to me you know it’

‘Jo won't be coming, dad and Marmee are on a two week cruise and you will see Amy and Beth, you haven't seen them in a while’ That had convinced him, he longed to see the other Marches as well but was hesitant for he knew how John's family could be 

Jo was in New Haven working as a journalist and sleeping with her boss or something of the kind he had heard, he had been wanting to stay friends with her even after she rejected him but the fact that she preferred a 30 year old than him was the last drop that made him drift away from everyone 

He knocked the door and braced himself. A 20 year old Amy opened the door and squealed in delight hugging his grandfather promptly ignoring Laurie, well he deserved that. She was wearing a white turtle neck and a black skirt that reached the middle of her thighs, her long blonde hair was tucked in a half ponytail with some loose strands framing her face 

“My, my! Amy you've grown so much!” His grandfather exclaimed hugging her back and his heart melted a little at the pretty picture they made though he always felt jealous at how tender his grandfather was to the Marches 

“I wish I couldn't say the same about you, Mr. Laurence,” Amy said pulling back making his grandfather laugh loudly “Hey Laurie,” She smiled tightly at him but didn't made a move to hug him and after helping them out of their coats and hanging them she took the bottle of wine walking them towards the living room 

Beth was there talking to a blonde haired girl which he silently guessed was some of John's cousins, Beth and Amy were living together in Boston in a cheap apartment but together. Amy was in community college and Beth was in nursing school, Beth was wearing a purple dress with her ginger hair cascading down her back in waves, she excused herself when she spotted him and hugged him tenderly 

Meg was in the kitchen readying everything and John's parents hadn't arrived yet and Amy had went there too, to help her older sister so he engaged himself in a conversation with John 

The first to arrive was his mom, Mary, she was a sweet dark haired woman, she was tall and had John's nose and eyes, she had hugged him and Meg gently and he wanted to see how she would react when Mike arrived, Mike was not nice like Mary was, Laurie had met them long ago 

When Mike Brooke arrived with his new girlfriend Aline, Meg exchanged an exasperated glance with Laurie, he wanted to laugh but refrained himself from doing so for he knew he was caught in the middle of this awkward situation, he was so intrigued by the feeling of wanting to see the outcome of this new setting and wanting to escape 

“I didn't knew you were coming with her,” John said after greeting his father with a hug that seemed rather stiff and Amy came to stand beside him placing her hand on the crook of his elbow to have an ample view of the scene 

“It's so good to have you both...” Meg begun stretching her hand towards Mike but he ignored her because Aline talked tightening her hand around his shoulders 

“What the hell? They didn't knew I was coming?” She asked and Laurie pursued his lips looking down at Amy who was frowning looking at Meg who looked mortified 

“No we didn't!” Mary said cheerily and after that Amy interrupted them to move them towards the dining room, Aline had eyed Mary naughtily as they sat in the table, Amy and his grandfather on his sides, she was tense as she ate her mashed potatoes and gravy 

“So, how are you setting in?” Mary asked trying to cut the tension in the table, Meg and John had just been able to afford this small but cozy house and were very proud of it 

“It's been tough...” John begun but Aline interrupted with some comment about how they were mistreating her, Laurie soon realized that he didn't liked her, everyone was making an effort to make this okay but she didn't wanted to cooperate and showed it shamelessly when John started to serve the wine 

“No, thank you,” Aline said covering her glass with her hand and John looked at her confused but moved towards the other person which was Amy 

“Why? Because you're underage?” Mary asked mockingly with a small smile and sipping her wine quietly 

“No, I can't drink because I'm pregnant!” Aline almost screamed and Amy dropped her fork on her plate and stood up excusing herself and walking down the hall though the table hadn't heard her since it erupted in yells and curses 

“Oh really? You couldn't get someone your age you had to stick your thing in a young girl!” That was John looking as red as a tomato as he gripped his fork tightly 

“Where I put my thing is none of your business.” 

“Of course it is!” 

He excused himself to go look for the youngest blonde March since she had been away for almost ten minutes, he found her again at the garage using her phone 

“What are you doing here? It's horrible out there!” Laurie exclaimed closing the door behind him, she looked up from her phone to him a little startled 

“I know! The tension, the back fighting, the racism and sexism and judgemental comments! This makes dinner at school look... still pretty bad,” Amy said grimacing at herself and he pitied her for that but didn't showed it for he knew she hated it 

“You guys! What are you doing here? We promised Meg we would help her,” Beth said sticking her head when she opened the door to the garage 

“Help? I just want to get out of here and use my fake ID to get into some cheap bar,” Amy said plopping down in the old couch there and crossing her arms and suddenly she wasn't adult Amy but young Amy, pouting and whining “Come on, don't tell me you're enjoying this crap!” Amy said when Beth walked in and closed the door behind her 

“Well, of course not but...” 

“We need an excuse to get out of here, I'm with Ames on this one. Have you been to the bar that's...” Laurie said but trailed off when Meg opened the door looking exasperated 

“Do you know how bad it looks that you guys are here, in this cold, old garage than in my lovely home?” Meg asked stiffly and Amy stood up sliding her phone back into the pocket of her skirt 

“What? As if...” Amy said shaking her head swiftly and Meg pursued her lips looking at her harshly 

“Be back soon,” Laurie nodded when she slammed the door behind her and Laurie turned to look at Beth who was playing with a strand of her hair between her fingers 

“Alright, we need to plan something,” Beth said while she nodded though she was looking at the floor and if Beth wanted to get away from something it must mean that it was pretty bad “I'll go and tell Meg that I'm having problems, down there,” Beth said and he widened his eyes “That I need you guys to take me somewhere, I don't know,” Amy nodded and walked back to the couch and crossed her smooth legs, he went to stand near the metal cabinet, leaning against it and when Beth left Amy spoke 

“What are you doing, back in New York?” Amy asked stiffly and now he understood why she had been so upset with him all afternoon, he moved from the cabinet and took a plastic chair to sit in front of her 

“Is that why you're mad?” He asked leaning his forearms on his thighs and looked to her pretty eyes, she shrugged 

“Part of,” Amy said crossing her arms as well defensively “Have you realized that you have, literally, wasted three years of your life?” He rubbed his forehead and remembered why he had avoided them so much, always sticking their noses in things they didn't understood. What did they know? They haven't went through a heartbreak like his 

“What do you know? It's not wasting my time, I've been doing internships and working...” 

“That is a waste of time,” Amy interrupted telling him what he had known for some time 

“What would you have me do, artiste?” He asked sarcastically leaning his back against the chair and crossing his arms too 

“I think you'd be a great lawyer,” That grabbed his attention for Amy didn't said things she didn't meant, she was eyeing him warily and he hated her for voicing out loud things that bothered him 

“You think? Why are you being so hard on me?” Laurie asked offended and there was a small smile on her face as she explained why he would be a great lawyer 

“You were in the debating team in high school for two years!” That was true though he didn't knew why he had forgot about it “You like to argue, like a lot, you have a lot of potential just don't waste it, it's annoying, everyone has known for some time but no one dared to say them,” Her words touched him poignantly but he was spared from answering when the door opened, he stood up swiftly and Amy followed him to see Beth looking traumatized, her face was almost as red as her hair 

“Turns out John's mom is a gynecologist,” Beth said looking at the floor, her hands curled in tight fists in her sides as she breathed deeply 

Amy offered to go and say she was sick, that her stomach was aching and he was left alone with Beth 

“So... are you enrolling in business school?” She asked crossing her arms and he felt a wave of annoyance, have they been talking about him? The answer to that was most likely yes 

“No and I don't want to talk about it,” Laurie answered and unlike Amy, Beth dropped the topic, Amy's words still rolling in his mind ‘I think you'd be a great lawyer,’ He had never thought about it before but now that she said it out loud it made sense 

“She gave me a pill,” Amy said walking back into the garage “And I don't know how the conversation moved to batman being gay,” Laurie rubbed the bridge of his nose, sighed and looked up alarmed when he remembered something 

“Did John said that? He once called me Robin and grandfather?” Laurie asked and Amy turned around to see Mr. Laurence walking in as well 

“That thing out there is getting real weird,” He closed the door behind him and ruffled Beth's hair and she smiled wrinkling her eyes 

“We know, we're planning on how to get out of here,” Amy said crossing her arms, her left leg fidgeting, something she did when she was annoyed, Mr. Laurence said something and walked away, he was starting to feel desperate, he wanted to hit something. After a while his grandfather returned looking agitated saying he needed to use the bathroom but that he didn't knew where it was, Amy guided him and he sat on the couch rubbing his hands together trying to come up with something that ringed when he looked at the garbage and Amy walked in 

“Enough of pretending we're sick,” Laurie said and walked over the can of garbage there, Amy and Beth came to stand beside him, she frowned at him and shook her head 

“If we don't pretend to be sick how are we getting out of here?” Beth asked and he opened the can, grimacing at the smell of it 

“We get sick, look,” He pointed at a tupper with green food, Amy pouted when she understood what he meant “It's the only way,” Laurie said looking towards Beth and Amy, they looked nauseated and he was as well but he tried to be brave for them, it was the only way they could get out of the diabolic dinner, never before he had been to such a bad dinner 

“Guys, what are you doing?” Meg said behind them, they heard the door opening but they figured it was his grandfather, turned out they were wrong 

“Meg!” Amy said turning around to face her in time with Laurie and Beth, Meg was standing behind them with her arms crossed looking too much annoyed with them and herself and to the world “We were just...”

“About to...”

“Eat garbage dip!” Laurie finished without thinking and cringed at himself when Beth and Amy turned to look at him incredulously “Why did I had to go third?” Laurie asked alarmed feeling betrayed 

“It's okay if you want to leave,” Meg said hugging herself “I know you want to, I don't know what I was thinking, I knew how they get I just didn't wanted to bear it alone,” Meg's voice cracked and he tried to ignore the guilt that settled in his gut 

“Oh Meg, we're sorry,” Amy walked all the way and hugged her older sister who after a split second hugged back, Beth joined them leaving Laurie looking at them with his hands on his pockets and feeling left out 

After a beat Amy looked over her shoulder and beckoned him with her head and after a beat he was able to wrap the sisters in his arms, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his family, because that's what they were, Jo or not he still loved them, and they still loved him! He felt it in the way Amy's arm settled around him and the way his hand grazed Beth's on Meg's back, they still loved him even if he had been ungrateful, distant and lazy 

He hadn't had a group hug in so long he felt like crying. He inhaled deeply, breathing them in, Meg's sandalwood scent, Amy's vainilla one and Beth's carnation one, so familiar yet new with the discovery of that he still had them, even if he didn't had Jo 

He loved Amy for her short nails and her whining and paint splashed dresses, her fingers always dirty from graphite, he loved how she used to slip sketches in his pockets and gift him imperfect bowls and cups from her pottery classes, how she laughed at his bad jokes, how she looked with her tiger onesie, how she always did the best she could with what she had, how she scolded him as well 

He loved Beth for her gentleness, for how easy she fell in the role of a younger sister for him, how she had softened his grandfather, how she preened at his compliments about her music and how she always wanted to do duets with him in the piano 

He loved Meg for she was a romantic as himself, for she had dreamt of a tragic love story like him but she had gotten it not like him but he was happy for her, he loved her for all of her, for her instagram posts and her witty comebacks 

They pulled apart when the door opened again “Did I miss a nice moment?” His grandfather asked peeking his head in 

“No!” Laurie answered quickly 

“Yes,” The girls said at the same time turning to look at him as well 

“Oh good, they're looking for you Meg,” He said and went outside again, Meg took a deep breath and Beth took her hands 

“Let's go out there, you'll put them in their places, you won't allow them to ruin your dinner, Meg, you'll be firm and clear we'll back you up,” Beth said looking into her sister's eyes, Meg seemed to gain courage by her words and nodded, they walked back into the dining room which was still a mess 

Aline and Mary were talking hotly while Mike looked between them amused, John was looking down at his hands and his grandfather was talking to John's cousin, Meg took Laurie's hand to stand in her wooden chair gaining everyone's attention 

“Enough! You're ruining my dinner and I won't allow it, you don't have to get along but at least try to be civil around each other, for your son!” When Meg finished everyone was as quiet as a mouse, Meg's face was red and her chest was heaving, Laurie offered his hand and she took it to get down from the chair and sit down on it 

Laurie took his seat back beside Amy and his grandfather, smiling at the both of them. Dinner was still stiff but somehow more polite, Aline talked about her pregnancy and Mary didn't made another comment about it and Mike was quiet for the rest of the dinner 

“Thank you guys,” Meg said once everyone else left leaving the inner circle there in the living room, sharing drinks and playing board games, her eyes were red and puffy and John's hand rubbed her back 

“Thank you for what? We considered eating expired food!” Laurie admitted, his hand resting on Amy's left thigh as the group dissolved into raucous laughter 

“No Meg, we're sorry,” Amy said once the group subdued itself, her hand resting on Laurie's one absently, he never felt so cocooned in their warmth and he never quite wanted to leave, his grandfather had a quiet smile in his face and everyone seemed content for a while even after they went through 

At 12 his grandfather wanted to leave after they promised to be back for breakfast, he hugged every single March and left feeling his heart full and happy, he couldn't quit the smile on his face 

“I'll enroll in law school,” Laurie said abruptly while they walked to his grandfather's car. He stopped for a moment and looked at him in surprise and confusion “Amy's right, I would be good at it and I'm sorry for being lazy and wasting your money,” His grandfather smiled pleased and clapped his shoulder

“What a good Christmas miracle.”


End file.
